Dec 6th:    Yep, up at 0500 with the annoying rooster noise from the smart phone.  NJ insists we change it.  I counter with “it wakes us up”.  We'll see.  Outside temp is 46, inside it's a balmy 65 degrees.  Coffee pots put on the burner, as both of us were low.  Got out of here at 0620, when it was light enough to see.  Sunrise was around 0640.  We had wind (20-28 knots apparent) on our nose the whole way to our left turn into San Diego Bay.  Started out pretty rough, but once we got into something deeper than 40 feet, which ended up taking about an hour, the swells and seas calmed a bit.  We pretty much rolly-pollied for the first 4 hours as some swells were coming in from the northwest and others from the southwest.  At least they were taking turns, so it was relatively bearable.  Seas flattened out the further south we got, but we still had the 20-25 knot winds on the nose.   We saw a few dolphins along the way, but otherwise, didn't see even another boat until we were withing about 10 miles of San Diego.  Arrived at Slip #23 at the Police/Public Dock on the west tip of Shelter Island.  We have reservations here for three nights so we can get our bearings, find more permanent (and cheaper) mooring to get the things done to the boat that need doing.  Time to relax for awhile....

Sunrise as we're leaving Oceanside

Point Loma...watch out for the kelp (we didn't)

Our greeting party as we enter San Diego Bay

Passing a submarine at Ballast Point.   Old haunt for Hal.

Getting near to west end of Shelter Island

San Diego landscape behind Coronado Naval Air Station

The Police boats just before we dock

Couldn't believe we ran into Marjorie again.  Canada & Richmond before this.

NJ cleaning up the brightwork to make us look good in port.

Dec 7th:    We awoke and realized we were actualy in San Diego now.  It was just one day shy of a full month since we left our slip in Richmond.  We also realized there was a number of things we want to accomplish before we head further south, like purchase and install a water maker, replace our house batteries, haul out for survey, new thru hull(s), repair worm board and perhaps add some more bottom paint.  Can't do much immediately because everything is closed for the weekend.  Brother Vern picked us up and we drove around the area a bit, stopping for a sandwich and beer.  The overcast, wind and rain showers dampened our outing quite a bit, so we headed back to Shakedown, said goodbye to Vern and Kylie and watched movies the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Dec 8th:    Not much happening this day.  Woke up to 54 degree weather, the rain event is over, clouds are giving way to sunshine.  Pulled the tarps up and folded them for storage.  Emptied the four jerry cans of diesel into port tank.  Spent a few hours cleaning the boat deck with pressure washer.  Sure accumulates a lot of dirt out on the water and in the harbors.  Today was 49ers vs. Seahawks.  Signed up for internet access, but couldn't get enough bandwidth to watch the game.  Bummer!  NJ cooking preparing meatloaf and green bean casserole.  Spent the entire afternoon trying to get info on the game via computer....what a waste of time.  Good thing we were getting updates via text message from son Steven in Maryland!  During the baking process this evening, had to change propane tanks to finish up in the galley.  I would be remiss if I didn't correct a “huge” error, (according to NJ) from a previous blog....Monday night we watched the Seahawks clobber the Saints, NOT the 49ers beat the Rams.... ok, I stand absolved of my mental flip-flop...or whatever...Something else I failed to include previously was that one needs to really pay attention to charts & guides with regard to the kelp fields at the tip of Point Loma.  You really do need to go all the way to Buoy SD.  We didn't and took “the shortcut”, almost getting us in deep trouble.  Between the long tenacles of the kelp, there were at least 300 crab pot floats to navigate through.  Going from 5.5 knots to 3.2 in a matter of about 3 seconds is pretty sobering.  However, with a bit of speed on the prop, we managed to successfully get out of the morass.  Be warned, should you travel this way.....

We will be here in San Diego Bay (somewhere) for probably at least a month.  Have a few things to do with the boat as noted above, and who knows what else will bite us in the ....So, the Blog will probably be dormant for periods of time.  Hope you understand.